Innocence
Dances beyond despair. For all the shit that life throws at us, the Innocent
cannot be entirely defeated. Inviting you to left yourself above the ruins of
mortality, this Dancer demonstrates graceful strength far beyond her apparent
means. However fragile she appears, Innocence endures.

Like
Classical ballet, however, innocence demands a heavy price. Both disciplines
force us to stretch ourselves to the breaking point, defying the usual limits
of mind, body, soul and circumstance. A wrong move can spell disaster, and so
mindfulness and constant practice form the foundations of ballet and innocence.
Despite impressions of childlike frivolity, the Innocent is a rebel, casting
herself against oppression with strength of body, heart and will.

* * *

This was a piece with classical ballet as its inspiration. I started by watching lots of videos on youtube of various ballet pas de deux. I did several gesture drawings in my sketchbook from that.

Photoshopped a couple of compositions. Decided on the one on the left. Too many directions on the other one.

Finalized sketch on the illustration board:

In progress painting. Skipped color rough for this piece, which I've been doing lately for almost all my paintings. I had a fairly solid idea in mind already of what colors I was going to use.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Enormous ficus tree at a botanical garden in Kauai, Hawaii. Standing next to it those roots came up to my waist in height. I love the way the roots swirl outward from the base, and have used that as inspiration for a number of pieces.

Another banyan in Maui, HI. We called this one "the big ole tree ball". It was a banyan that had grown on top of a huge boulder that was lodged in a dry stream bed. The roots draped down and around the sides.Offerings

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At Rancho Preserve, Los Altos, CA
I grew up around these oaks. There's a large field where they spread their branches to the sky. And along the trails, where it is dark and shady, they are thick with verdant moss.Wind Machine and Inner Workings

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And a few others:

Rancho Preserve, Los Altos, CA.

Setauket, NY. The skyline and branches are very different on the east coast, from my California trees that have leaves year-round.

Joaquinn Miller Park, Oakland CA. I only came across this one very recently the other day. So it hasn't ever been used as a reference directly; but I feel like this IS the tree I've been painting all the time, even though I never saw it before yesterday!